I am a Sewing Dummy

Getting ready for a new pattern...

And messing it up, too!

  So many of you have been waiting patiently for the promise of a pattern that will help you with your crochet tension problems! And you'll have to wait just a little bit longer, so here's something to entertain you in the meantime...

  There's no doubting that my new (free!) pattern is awesome. It. Is. Awesome. There's actually two of them, so you'll be able to mix and match to meet your tension needs. But... Do you know what's NOT awesome? My sewing skills. The new pattern requires a bit of sewing, and that has everything to do with why it's not ready. Because I do stuff like this:

  I swear I'm an intelligent person. Really, I am. It's just that... Mistakes happen, especially when I'm sewing. I'm glad they don't measure IQ based on sewing skills! I don't use this kind of snap buttons often, and I knew something seemed wrong while I was sewing this button on the pattern. But desperately wanting to be done with the sewing, I persisted. 

  It wasn't just one side of the button. I wish I had realized my mistake with the first half of the snap, but no. I sewed both sides of it the wrong way before I flipped the button package over and saw the diagram. Then it clicked:

  I even took step-by-step pictures for a tutorial, so now you guys get to watch me sew on buttons... The wrong way.

  Yup... I even made my horrible, big ugly knots to secure the thread, which makes it almost impossible to undo.

  At least I sewed the second button on correctly, although it's not pretty! To prove I'm not a total sewing dummy, I was going to remove the button with my seam ripper and fix my mistake. Oh, that's right... I broke it. How did my seam ripper get broken? Because I'm a sewing dummy!

  The good news is: It works! (The finished pattern; not my broken seam ripper.) That, plus my hands are starting (and hopefully will continue) to heal from my latest flare-up of rheumatoid arthritis. The swelling is going down, the redness is fading, and I'm starting to get some flexibility back. (My skin looks horrible after the swelling, but who cares! The pain is going away, yay!) Maybe my sewing will look nicer if they get a little better. Technically, I could give you guys the pattern now... But I have to put together more pictures and a short tutorial that goes along with them, so I need a bit more time. And...sewing. Here's to hoping that I pay more attention to what I'm doing, and ya'll should have your patterns by Monday!

  A note before we close: It did occur to me that the pattern I designed to help you with tight tension requires crocheting! I purposefully held my tension tight when I created these, and you'll see the results when the pattern is published. But, there will also be a scrap-tastic project available that requires no crocheting... And maybe I'll find a way to skip the sewing, too! 

I often close with "Happy Crocheting", but in honor of today's mistake:

Happy Sewing :)